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still counting
So… had an eventful time in the beeyard today. Apparently bees don’t like it when you take apart their home. 8 stings today brings my running total to 10. When do I stop counting? Take my poll!!! ….in the sidebar to the right. Should I explain myself? I was on a mission to get rid of some burr comb between the frames of the upper and lower brood chambers. They had sealed together and it was hard to put them back into the hive once I took them out to inspect them. I took the upper brood chamber off, smoked the lower chamber, started doing a bit of gentle scraping,…
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surprise
Are there beekeeper fairies? Or elves? We came back from vacation today, and I found 3 beekeeping catalogues in a bag on my front door! They look interesting, I’m looking forward to giving them a proper look once the camping clutter has disappeared from my dining room. And by ‘disappeared’ I’m referring to the process whereby I am the one who cleans said clutter. Hopefully it won’t take too long. We should have camped out for a few more days, I think. I find it takes about a day on either end of camping to transition in and out, so the longer we go the more worthwhile it feels. Although,…
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onions and honey
While I’m on the topic of this family, I have to thank Michelle for the winter onions (sometimes called egyptian onions) she gave me the last time we were there. I cooked some up with brown rice and finely diced veg, and a smidge of honey thrown in for good measure – since I was just back from the beeyard and thinking about it. Very tasty. The rest of the onions are planted in my garden – hopefully they’ll get a good start on growing before winter! Anybody want the recipe? No? Too bad, I’m posting it anyway. There’s the small version and the big version, go with whatever suits.…
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grass killer
Thanks to my wonderful sister for carpet! It’s a good way to keep the thigh-high grass from crowding the hives. Yet another trick I learned from Ken. There’s so much value in learning from someone who has many years of experience! I’m very grateful to have accidentally stumbled upon this family during my research days. I’ve learned something from each member. Even Jill, who gives good (usually) directions..
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screening visitors
Here is a pic of my screen bottom board. Normally it’s under the brood chamber and I only see the front entrance part of it, but it’s on display here because we were cleaning the bottom board. (And by ‘we’ I mean Ken.) The screen bottom board is there to enhance the health of the hive. Mainly as protection against varroa mite, which can be incredibly damaging to a colony of bees. The screen mesh is wide enough to allow the varroa mite to fall through, but narrow enough to keep the bees away from them. Varroa mites will wait there on the bottom board for a bee to come…
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new supplies
Here’s my little beekeeper smoking the bees, in her new hat and veil! I finally went and got the kids hats and veils of their own, and they enjoyed having them the last time we visited the beeyard. Especially this one. She wanted to do everything and see everything. So, she used the smoker until someone mentioned that she should stop, and she was right in there underneath me so she could see all the action. The smoker had to go, though – smoke rises, right? Yep. And she was right under me… I couldn’t see or breathe for a few minutes, until someone set it somewhere else. I love…
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ouchie 2
The penny comes in handy again. Kid #2 ended up with a bee sting this time. This eases my mind, having both of them stung now. I’ve heard that beekeepers’ children and spouses tend to develop allergies to bee stings, due to being in contact with low levels of venom that would come off clothing worn by beekeepers. Being stung is the best way to ensure that they’re getting higher levels of venom and allowing their bodies to develop resistance without developing an allergy. So: two down, one to go. Hubby still needs to come see the bees and get himself stung..
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reno 2
The bees were ready for a second brood chamber when we checked on Thursday, so here they are! Should make my next inspection more interesting, since I haven’t done an inspection on a double yet. I originally thought I would use only one brood chamber, because it sounded like it would be easier for me. However, after talking with Ken and other beekeepers, I’ve come to realize that double is probably better for the bees. If they have more room to raise brood, they’ll be a stronger colony. If they have more room to store honey for themselves, they’ll last the winter without me having to feed them (hopefully). It’s…
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expert help
A big thanks to Ken and Steve for coming out to my beeyard yesterday! Here you see Ken scraping the junk off a bottom board – something I hadn’t thought to do since getting my bees. Here’s what came off them: You can see different kinds of pollen – the different colour pollen comes from different flowers – and other random junk that fell to the bottom of the hive. This kind of thing attracts Wax Moth and other nuisances, so it’s a good idea to scrape it off every once in awhile. When you remember. Or when someone else remembers for you..
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reno
I’m pretty sure one or both of my hives will need a second brood box soon, which means I need to get them ready! This is the first coat of paint for these boxes. The reddish colour is my old hallway colour, and the blue is even older – it’s from our newlywed apartment. 9 years today (happy anniversary dear!), so it’s been around for awhile. Anyway, back to bees: this time I’m going to paint two coats of paint without primer underneath. My first boxes were done with primer and paint, but I’ve recently read that it works better if you don’t use primer. Who knows? I say why…